What is Kuzushi?

From the Japanese verb, “Kuzusu”, Kuzushi is widely used in the Japanese Martial Arts as a term to describe off-balancing another person. Attaining kuzushi is a key component and core principle during martial arts training and implementation. Unbalancing an opponent can be accomplished numerous ways and is typically what must occur prior to performing certain techniques or tactics. Some of the most prominent martial arts in which kuzushi is really focused on are Judo, Jujutsu, and Aikido. As we mentioned before, however, every single martial arts or combat sport utilizes and trains kuzushi, even if not specifically focused upon.

When talking about off-balance, falling or losing one’s balance is what typically comes to mind. Kuzushi can, however, be utilized both mentally and physically. Mentally, this can mean to disrupt or alter another’s emotions or focus. It involves distractions, misdirecting, or redirecting another’s focus. Physically, kuzushi aims to compromise the posture and equilibrium of an opponent causing confusion or disorientation. Once this has happened, the opponent will take time to re-position, re-center, or-orient themselves whilst disregarding other aspects of the situation. Anytime, even if just for a small moment in time, an attacker is NOT focused on you, an advantage is gained. Kuzushi creates openings and vulnerabilities in an opponents defenses.

KUZUSHI IS A CORE PRINCIPLE IN EVERY MARTIAL ART

How to Set Kuzushi

Mental Kuzushi

Distraction. We’ve all experienced a time when we lost our train-of-though due to some random stimulus. Fear, anguish, heartbreak, anger, nervousness, and confusion are the goals of mental kuzushi. Literally, anything that disrupts a person’s focus is mental kuzushi and can cause someone to drop their guard or act erroneously. Keeping along the lines of martial arts application, these same ideas can be applied to other situations as well.

One way to introduce kuzushi is via distraction. Redirecting someone’s focus with words or motions. I will let this fun image do the talking…

Another distraction is that of Kiai (Key-eye), a short but powerful shout. This can be done many ways. The most notable way is by shouting “KIAI!” towards your opponent. This can distract or intimidate them and prompt hesitation. It could also simply startle or scare them into retreat or by activating their flinch response.

Similar to the Kiai, the Battle-Cry is another verbal technique typically used by groups of soldiers or fighters such as the Samurai or Spartans but it also frequently used by sports teams. These battle-cries will perform double-duty as they also help focus and motivate the warriors. Hearing the chanting and yelling of such “cries” can instill fear, anguish, nervousness, etc. into the opposition.

Anger and emotions play a huge role in conflict resolution as well as combat. When someone is angry, they tend to put too much focus into one objective, even if the objective is no longer related to the original stimulus. Angry people tend to not think clearly and just see the task at hand, which is probably to seek out and destroy. Read more about the psychology of anger here.

_{^{When we experience anger, it affects our body, our thinking and our behaviour.}}

_{^{Physically our heart rate increases, our breathing becomes more rapid, our muscles tense and blood flow is redirected to them, and our liver releases glucose. Our body is essentially going into a ‘fight or flight’ response and is physically getting prepared for action.}}

_{^{We are more likely to have ‘tunnel vision’ when we are angry.  That is, we can become overly focused on the stimulus that has triggered our anger rather than seeing the bigger picture. This ‘tunnel vision’ thinking inhibits our ability to problem solve, process information, access memory, and concentrate. As such our judgement and decision making is impaired.}}

_{^{These impacts to our body and thinking affect our behaviour.  When we are angry we tend to behave more impulsively and react instead of responding.  I’m sure we are all familiar with people saying, ‘I acted in the heat of the moment’.}}

^{Jodie Riemann, Psychologist at Cause Effect Psychology}

To make someone angry or angrier is to set kuzushi. Of course, you’d want to maintain the principle of Ma-Ai, or proper distance, since they are more likely to attack you as a result. But the shift in mindset and focus is what mental kuzushi is all about. While our brain is processing through the anger, more compulsive and “sloppy” the attacker may become. Also, the ability to be sensitive and reactive to technical and strategic attacks becomes more difficult.

Kuzushi can also be in deception. Allowing another to believe they have the upper hand. Naturally, animals do not pick battles they do not believe they can win. Predators choose prey that are weaker and more easily subdued. Humans are animals and are no exception. A 100 pound 12 year old will not pick a fight with a 200 pound, grown man… unless they have an advantage unbeknownst to the opponent. This could be weapons, companions, or specific skills. How does this relate? Someone who believes they will win and who underestimates their prey can often be surprised by atypical behavior, counter attacks, or odd methods of defense. Being too confident , egotistical, or overzealous can also promote tunnel-vision and drop someone’s guard. Pretending to be vulnerable, weak, or unsuspecting prey can present opportunities for gaining an advantage. Conversely, acting big and tough or just plain crazy could have a similar result.

“If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.”

Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Physical conflict is not the only use for the kuzushi. Instead, to anger, confuse, or make someone nervous could set them up for self-destruction. They could say or do something heinous or unruly in the heat of the moment and it could land them in hot water. Applying this kuzushi whilst the opponent is in a professional setting or near arresting authorities could be a strategic method of handling a situation. Police often use this tactic while interrogating a suspect by intimidation. For example, even without any evidence, police can claim to have evidence to arrest you with the death penalty and could prompt you to spill the beans about what really happened in hopes of a lighter sentence.

Lastly, we can use mental kuzushi to promote good in the world. Performing a random act of kindness could shift someone’s thought process and improve their day. Something as simple as smiling to someone while walking, bringing home a random gift for absolutely no reason to a friend or significant other, or saying something funny at a time nobody would expect. Changing a conversational topic can also be healthy; so when politics come up with those you do not agree with, shift it over to a happier topic such as martial arts, for example.

Mental kuzushi has many examples and we have only covered a few. Just note that whenever you promote behavior changes, emotional changes, or alter someone’s train-of-thought, you have set mental kuzushi. The trick is to apply it in a way that is advantageous to you and hopefully other parties as well.

Physical Kuzushi

The most familiar kuzushi for a martial artist or fighter. When kuzushi is achieved on an opponent, an opening can present itself for strikes to ensue or techniques to be applied. Physical kuzushi happens mainly when the head is no longer inline with the spine or the hips. Kuzushi is best achieved when their center or body becomes misaligned. Kuzushi is a principle for a reason because without it, performing physical attacks or counter-attacks are extremely difficult. It is not advised to attempt a physical technique without kuzushi. This must be reiterated…

ONLY AFTER KUZUSHI IS ACHIEVED SHOULD A PHYSICAL TECHNIQUE BE ATTEMPTED

Humans, despite our personal opinions, cannot multi-task well. Our resources and brain power will be diverted based on priority of SAFETY. This means that if you are falling, the brain’s main priority is to communicate to the proper muscles, organs, or senses to simultaneously assess the situation and either prevent the fall i.e. by grabbing something or perform the best body maneuvers it knows to prevent injury upon impact, such as a break-fall. Safety also refers to the protection of certain vital body parts, specifically those pertaining to highly sensitive areas, the senses, or overall body function, and extremities. Humans and animals naturally protect these areas because losing them will be very debilitating. Without another’s help, how long could you survive without hands in the wild? Or eyes?Or with a broken ankle? While the mind is protecting vital areas and or recovering from the sensation of falling, instability, disequilibrium, improper or inefficient posturing, or poor strategic positioning, other stimuli will be omitted until the body is considered to be safe.

“It’s incredibly difficult to fight if you can’t see”

Along with several methods of achieving physical kuzushi, we will also review examples of specific techniques and when they are optimally applied along with proper kuzushi. With training, the goal is to set kuzushi and follow-up with a relevant technique or strike. You can even use the energy to “lead” the opponent somewhere strategic as they often do in the game of chess. This is far from easy but definitely attainable. As mentioned in this AIKIDO BLOG, techniques are tools that must only be used for the right job at the right time. Do not take out your hammer to drive a screw into wood. For specific examples, consult your instructor.

1. Striking (Atemi Waza)

Striking is the simplest method of setting kuzushi. As we know, a sufficient strike can result in severe pain and discomfort. Strikes should be powerful, fast, and accurate. Aside from the usual punch and kick, a strike can be with any part of your body. Learn to use forearms, elbows, head, knees, shoulder, chest, butt, shin, fingers, wrist, and so on. At Impulse Martial Arts, while studying Kempo Karate, Aikido, and Ju-Jutsu, we introduce the adaptation of various body parts to set kuzushi because you never know what position you will be in when you need to strike with power.

Kyusho-Waza focuses on Vital Points of the body. These include the areas of the body that inflict the most pain, discomfort, damage or disability such as a knockout. Upon striking these areas, an opponent can be easily overwhelmed with pain providing you with an opportunity to advance, subdue, or escape. Some of these points are easier to strike than others, but the brain desires to protect all of them so that the person can survive the encounter. Here are a few vital points we can all recognize as vital:

Hitting any of these areas with sufficient force will collapse someone’s defenses. We will not describe the effects of all these vital points here, instead that will be in a future blog. But note that the goal of striking these points is to disable your attacker, reduce their willingness to continue, and to perform an appropriate technique for self-defense.

Kuzushi Example:

An example of kuzushi while striking will be Kotegaeshi. People are extremely protective of their hands. Why? Could you do your job without them? Could you feed yourself or do every day tasks? We need and use our hands for everything we all take them for granted! That is until we injury them… Kotegaeshi is a joint manipulation technique used a lot in Ju-Jutsu and Aikido where in which an open hand is grabbed and turned against the wrist. This can be devastating and result in a broken or severely sprained wrist, rendering it useless. Nobody will let you just have their hand while fighting.

As an experiment (for advanced practitioners), work with a partner, grab their fist, and instruct them to not let you turn their wrist. You will find that unless you are significantly stronger than your partner and even if so, performing kotegaeshi proves difficult on an unwilling and resistant opponent. Now perform it again and this time you will put your [non-essential to the technique] hand in their face. If they do not know your initial intention, it is almost certain that they will loosen their fist, opening their hand, allowing torque to be applied. I’ve experimented with this throughout the years and it holds true against unsuspecting uke.

Performing this technique during sparring, MMA, grappling, or a street-fight is not as simple, but the principle remains. Kotegaeshi is not easy to pull-off without kuzushi, especially while simultaneously being on the defensive. One opportune time to deploy kotegaeshi is when someone is pulling in towards themselves, as a protective measure, where in which you follow that energy and continue it pass their expected stop point. Another is directly after they are struck and the hands loosens for a moment. Remember, if a technique does not happen quickly, then the window of opportunistic relevancy may have passed. Do not try and force a technique.

2. Pressure Points

Pressure points, as in areas that can be pulled, pushed, or pressed to cause pain, discomfort, or momentary disability. As a part of Kyusho-Waza, many of the points mentioned above for striking can also be indicated as a pressure point. There is absolutely nothing mystical about these points and some are generalized. And pressure is the key word here. This implies that sufficient physical pressure must be applied to affect them. The points below are the most popular and yield decent effects:

There is also a generalized principle you can follow to find other effective points. This principle is to dig between things. What things specifically? Muscle and bone! Muscle and bone have a lot of nerves within them. But they also have nerves in-between as well as tighter tissue and fascia. The idea is to spread the muscles, bones, and tissues apart, stimulating the nerves, and causing pain. Also, putting an immense amount of pressure on small area of bone can be very painful. Be cautious about attacking these points as they do require decent pressure. Sufficient strength or proper technique will be required to achieve desired effectiveness. Some areas include behind the collar bone, between the hand bones, or between the ribs.

NOTE* – Weapons of any solid nature make for a good tool to use while applying the “dig” principle!

Kuzushi Example:

Headlocks are pretty common. They can be used to subdue and control or as a take-down. From a headlock position, the opponents leg will be positioned in front of you and arm grasped tightly around your noggin. While maintaining your own balance, reach up with your hand and place it under their nose, in the eye, or hook the cheek and pull back. One of these three motivators should do the trick. Another alternative is placing your elbow (the one closer to them) directly into their upper inner thigh / groin area and dig in towards the hip. Lastly, try just reaching under their legs and either grab the goods or grab as much upper inner thigh skin as you can. Once the person is more focused on these attacks, your more free to advance or escape.

3. Joint Locks or Manipulation

Joints can only move so far or in specific directions. We have very limber joints like the wrist, shoulder, or hip that have a wide range of motion. They can be moved quite a bit without pain or discomfort. Others extremities, such as elbows, knees, and fingers, not so much. But how can we use these for kuzushi? By taking them beyond their normal range of motion or bending them in a different direction than designed for, causing pain, disability, or loss-of-balance. Remember, people will protect their joints because the body knows how vulnerable joints can be and cause them to move in a way to safeguard them. Focus is once again redirected to safety. Typically, the receiver of a joint lock will move in the direction the pain is being applied. This will give the defender an idea of where the person will move next as in leading someone in a chess match.

Some terms used to describe actions that cause joint trauma are hyperflexion, hyperextension, or over-rotation. To cause injury or fear of injury, you want to hyperflex, extend, or over-rotate a joint. Injuries from performing joint manipulation include ligament and tendon tearing, bone fractures, and general soft tissue damage. Aikido and Ju-Jutsu utilize these techniques quite frequently. Kempo Karate and Samurai Sword arts will also incorporate them as well but less often. Let’s go over some examples:

1. Elbows – Applying pressure against the back of the elbow will bend it in the opposite direction.
2. Knees – Pushing on a knee from the side can be devastating causing intense pain and severe ligament / tendon damage.
3. Wrist – Over-rotation of the wrist by grabbing an open hand and twisting is a game-changer; Sankyo is a great example.
4. Fingers – Getting ahold of a finger and bending towards the back of the hand can make a grown man crumble.
5. Head / Neck – Gripping around the head and twisting is a favorite. Manipulating the head is one of the most wide-used techniques for kuzushi. When someone’s head goes back or down, the body will “want” to follow. Life is better when the head is attached and neck unbroken.

Where the head goes, the body will follow.

4. Push / Pull Concept

Promoting kuzushi by pushing and pulling is found in any martial art but especially those which primarily study throwing or grappling. These arts include Ju-Jutsu, BJJ, Wrestling, Aikido, and Judo. Other striking arts like Karate or Muay Thai will use pushing and pulling to set kuzushi and strike unimpeded. The greatest advantage of the push / pull method of kuzushi is that a connection is already established between the uke and nage (thrower) allowing for a more efficient takedown once balance is lost.

The push / pull concept is an important principle to understand when we want to learn sensitivity and flow. Judo, BJJ, and Aikido practice this concept constantly. The idea is that when someone pushes energy in your direction, you want to continue and guide that energy past it’s intended stop point or in an alternate direction. Pulling is the exact opposite in that when someone pulls you towards them, continue their energy beyond or in a different direction than expected. When they push, you pull.

To achieve a push, our brains are very calculating and know exactly what distance to go, where to place the feet and hands, and the exact muscles to use and in which order. Within these calculations, it will not usually account for unexpected forces. If it did, it would not be able to perform the push properly or as effectively. To prove this, simply try to push a couch across the floor while someone is trying to trip you. Notice where your attention ends up focusing on most. Therefore, timing is critical to using this concept and you can read more about that from this article written by Kazuzo Kudo, a 9th dan in Judo.

Though timing is very important to the application of force, it is neither easy to explain nor easy to master while you are actually performing the techniques. Needless to say, it is too late to try to pull your opponent once he has already pushed you. Similarly, if you try to push him as he is only about to pull you, you will simply be playing into his hand.

Kazuzo Kudo, Kodokan 9th dan

Another aspect of the push and pull idea is body position and manipulation. No matter how we position ourselves, there will always be a vulnerable direction in which someone can fall. Adequate training will help you recognize these vulnerabilities easier as they present themselves. The concept is simple… stand in any position you like and have someone push or pull you in any direction they want. You may also do this sitting or kneeling. It’s guaranteed you will not be able to keep your balance without adjusting your body. The most vulnerable directions will be those which do not require much energy. An example of this is standing with feet shoulder-width apart and being pushed backwards. Meanwhile, pushing from left or right will be more difficult because the legs and feet are your “kickstands”. To utilize this appropriately, look for these “kickstands” and push or pull perpendicular to them.

Other body position manipulation can be performed by pushing or pulling an extremity or joint for leverage. Quick examples include pushing the back of someone’s knee, pushing someone’s head down or pulling their hair back, or pushing into their hip while holding their ankle. These do not cause pain or discomfort, but the do break posture. Feet, knees, and hips must work together to keep the body upright and when one of them is misaligned, the floor is met. A great example of this is “Ashi-gurami” in Ju-Jutsu in which a defender laying down grabs a standing opponents ankle and legs wrapped around their leg. Pressure is then applied to the hip pushing it out-of-line with their center and causing kuzushi.

Kuzushi Example:

Iriminage is a popular technique in Aikido. Essentially, the defender is to position themselves facing the uke or attacker from the side. Pulling their head sideways towards you with one hand will prompt them to go that direction. We then redirect the energy in a circular fashion while lifting their head up with the other arm, and like a wave crashing, push their head up and down to the tatami (link). Energy wise, as the uke’s head is tilted sideways, they move their body that direction to “catch up” and regain posture giving the nage momentum to work with, continue, and redirect. Again, while the uke is catching up, other actions like lifting the chin are “easier” to achieve. Then, where the head goes, the body follows as mentioned before.